Song of Solomon 8:7

For the holy martyrs burned vigorously with charity, because they blazed wondrously in the love of God and neighbor. Many waters could not extinguish this charity, because however great the tribulations that befell them, they were unable to change them to hatred. This indeed would …

Many waters could not extinguish love, etc. He calls the many waters and the rivers the onslaught of temptations, which either visibly or invisibly do not cease to attack the souls of the faithful: for they attempt to overcome them both through open adversaries of …

If a man gives all the substance of his house, etc. This sentence does not require an explanation of words, as both the apostles themselves at the beginning and countless believers afterward have sufficiently proved its truth by their examples, when for the love of …

Many waters - My love to thee cannot be taken off, either by terrors and afflictions, which are commonly signified in scripture by waters and floods; or by temptations and allurements.

The overflowing of these waters will strike no damp upon it, but it will enable a man to rejoice in tribulation. Though he slay me, I will love him and trust in him. No waters could quench Christ's love to us, nor any floods drown it; he waded through the greatest difficulties, even seas of blood.

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it,....

Many waters - Neither common nor uncommon adversities, even of the most ruinous nature, can destroy love when it is pure; and pure love is such that nothing can procure it. If it be not excited naturally, no money can purchase it, no property can procure it, no arts can persuade it. How vain is the thought of old rich men hoping to procure the affections of young women by loading them with presents and wealth! No woman can command her affections; they are not in her power.

Persecutions (Ac 8:1) cannot quench love (Heb 10:34; Our many provocations have not quenched His love (Ro 8:33-39). if . . . give all the substance . . . contemned--Nothing short of Jesus Christ Himself, not even heaven without Him, can satisfy the saint (Php 3:8). Satan offers the world, as to Jesus Christ (Mt 4:8), so to the saint, in vain (1Jo 2:15-17;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

THIS is the prayer of one who has the present enjoyment of fellowship with Christ. But being apprehensive lest this communion should be interrupted, she avails herself of the opportunity now afforded her to plead for a something which shall be as the abiding token of a covenant between her and her Beloved when His visible Presence shall be withdrawn. You will notice that this is not the cry of a soul that is longing for fellowship, for that cry is—"Tell me O You whom my soul loves, where You feed." It is not even the cry of the soul that has some fellowship and needs more, for then it would say, "Oh that You were as my brother!" Nor is it the cry of a soul that has had fellowship but has lost it, for that is, "Saw You Him, whom my soul loves?" And she goes "about the streets and in the broad ways" saying, "I will seek Him." But this is the prayer of the spouse when she has been coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon His bosom. The thought strikes her, that He who has sustained her is about to go from her, to depart and leave her for a season, because it is expedient and more useful for her, and she prays that since He is no more on the earth, but has entered into the ivory palaces where her God dwells, that He would be pleased to make a covenant with her never to forget her, and that He would give her some sign and mark by which she might be assured that she is very near to His heart, and still written upon His arm. I take it to be the prayer of the Church at the present day, now that Christ is before the Father's Throne; the Bridegroom is not with us; He has left us; He has gone to prepare a place for us, and He is coming again.

THAT is a general truth, applying to all forms of real love—you cannot purchase love. If it is true love, it will not run on rails of gold. Many a marriage would have been a very happy one if there had been a tithe as much love as there was wealth and, sometimes, love will come in at the cottage door and make the home bright and blest, when it refuses to recline on the downy pillows of the palace.

THAT is a general truth, applying to all forms of real love—you cannot purchase love. If it is true love, it will not run on rails of gold. Many a marriage would have been a very happy one if there had been a tithe as much love as there was wealth and, sometimes, love will come in at the cottage door and make the home bright and blest, when it refuses to recline on the downy pillows of the palace. Men may give all the substance of their house and form a marriage bond—the bond may be there, but not that which will make it sweet to wear. "If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly despised." Who, for instance, could purchase a mother's love? She loves her own child, especially because it is her own. She watches over it with sedulous care. She denies her eyes the necessary sleep at night if her baby is sick and she would be ready to part with her own life sooner than it should die. Bring her another person's child and endow her with wealth to induce her to love it, and you shall find that it is not in her power to transfer her affection to the son or daughter of a stranger! Her own child is exceedingly precious to her and another infant, who to an unprejudiced eye might be thought to be a far more comely baby, shall receive tenderness from her—for the woman is compassionate—but it can never receive the love that belongs to her own offspring. Take, again, even the love of friends. I only mention that to show how true our text is in relation to all forms of love. Damon loved Pythias—the two friends were so bound together that their names became household words and their conduct towards one another grew into a proverb. Yet Damon never purchased the heart of Pythias and neither did Pythias think to pay a yearly stipend for the love of Damon.

THIS is the prayer of one who has the present enjoyment of fellowship with Christ. But being apprehensive lest this communion should be interrupted, she avails herself of the opportunity now afforded her to plead for a something which shall be as the abiding token of a covenant between her and her Beloved when His visible Presence shall be withdrawn. You will notice that this is not the cry of a soul that is longing for fellowship, for that cry is—"Tell me O You whom my soul loves, where You feed."

The love which grace has begotten in the heart of the bride is itself divine and persistent; many waters cannot quench it, nor the floods drown it.